Automatic fire-door closer.



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A TTORNEY Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

Door Closers,

' pulley bracket 16'.

citizen of the United EN FFIGE.

JAMES A. BUNCE, 0F SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-DOOR CLOSER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

Application filed January 12, 1911. Serial No. 602,222.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. 'BUNCE, a States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Fireof which the following is a specification.

The Object of this invention is the perfecting of heat actuated apparatus for automatically closing a fire-door, but which would ordinarily offer no interference to the opening or closing of the door.

The invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation, shown partly in section, of a fire-door and a portion of the wall of a building, with my invention applied. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken through 2---2 of Fig. 1.

The reference numeral 5 designates a sliding door suspended by hangers 6 from a track-rail 7 which is secured, as by brackets 8, to a wall 9.

According to my invention, there is employed a heavy body, or door-closing weight, 10 located to the side of the door-way toward which the door is moved in closing. This Weight is suspended from a book 11 or other fixture provided'on the wall above the door-way by means of a line 12 having included in its length a fusible link 13. Also secured to said Weight is the end of a wirerope 14, or an equivalent, which passes about a superposed guide-sheave 15, thence it extends across the door-way to and about a guide-sheave 16 attached to the door by a At the remote end of this rope from the weight 10 is a relatively small weight 17 whose office is to take up slack from the rope when the door is shifted. To accommodate the weights, there is re spectively provided a casing 18 formed with or provided on said wall, and another casing 19 upon the door. Ordinarily, the door 5 may be moved to open or close the same without disturbing the Weight 10, and in the performance of which the weight 17, as above. mentioned, acts to prevent any slack occurring in the rope lt by moving freely up or down Within the casing 19 according.'

to the direction in which the door is moved. In'case of a fire, the link 13 is fused to release the weight 10, which is thereby made operative to effect the closing of the door through the agency of the rope 14, which is secured to said weight. l/Vhenthe Wei ht 10 exerts apull upon the rope, the weig 1t 17 is first drawn upwardly against the sheave 16 or the bracket support therefor, and is thereby engaged by the door so that a continued pull upon the rope serves to effect the closing of the door.

In practice, the door-closing weight 10 has been found most effective when of about twice the weight (found experimentally) which is required to impart a sliding movemcnt to the door.

What I claim, is

1. The combination with a wall, of a siiding door provided with a weight receptacle, a balance weight freely movable in said receptacle, a sheave carried by the door, a rope secured at one end to said weight and passing over said sheave, a door-closing weight secured to the other end of the rope, a sheave mounted upon said Wall and. the last-named end of the rope passing thereover, and a fusible link supporting said weight to render the closing weight normally inoperative and'said balance weight being operable only during the inopcration of the closing weight.

2. The combination with a wall, of a sliding door provided with a weight receptacle,

a balance Weight freely movable in said rcceptacle, a sheave carried by the door, a rope secured at one end to said weight and passing over' said sheave, a door-closing weight secured to the other end of the rope, a sheave mounted upon said wall and the last-named end of the rope passing thereover, a fusible link supporting said weight to render the closing weight normally inoperative and said balance weight being operable only during the inoperation of the closing weight, a receptacle positioned upon .said wall and said door-closing weight vertically movable therein, said-balance weight adapted for tightening said rope upon the normal opening and closlng of said door. JAMES A. BUNCE. Witnesses:

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